Minimally Invasive Spine Fusion

Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure to join 2 or more bones of your spine together permanently. A minimally invasive spinal fusion uses a smaller cut (incision) than a traditional spinal fusion surgery.

Various medical conditions might cause your vertebrae to move against each other more than they should. This can stretch your surrounding nerves, ligaments, and muscles, causing pain. For example, if you have arthritis of your spine, your vertebrae might hurt when they move against each other. Spinal fusion may stop this pain by preventing 1 or more of your vertebrae from moving.

Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion TLIF

TLIF back surgery is done through the posterior (back) part of the spine.

  • Surgical hardware is applied to the spine to help enhance the fusion rate. Pedicle screws and rods are attached to the back of the vertebra and an interbody fusion spacer is inserted into the disc space from one side of the spine.
  • Bone graft is placed into the interbody space and alongside the back of the vertebra to be fused. Bone graft is obtained from the patient’s pelvis, although bone graft substitutes are also sometimes used.
  • As the bone graft heals, it fuses the vertebra above and below and forms one long bone.

Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion XLIF

The XLIF (eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion) is an approach to spinal fusion in which the surgeon accesses the intervertebral disc space and fuses the lumbar spine (low back) using a surgical approach from the side (lateral) rather than from the front (anterior) or the back (posterior).

XLIF Indications:

  • Lumbar DDD
  • Spondylolisthesis
  • Scoliosis
  • Lumbar Herniated Disc
  • Lumbar Stenosis

The XLIF is one of a number of spinal fusion options that a surgeon may recommend to treat specific types of lumbar spinal disorders, such as lumbar degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, scoliosis and deformity and some recurrent lumbar disc herniations and types of lumbar stenosis

Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion

The anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is similar to the posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF), except that in the ALIF, the disc space is fused by approaching the spine through the abdomen instead of through the lower back. In the ALIF approach, an incision is made on the left side or the lower part of the abdomen and the abdominal muscles are retracted to the side.

The ALIF approach is advantageous in that, unlike the PLIF and posterolateral gutter approaches, both the back muscles and nerves remain undisturbed.
Another advantage is that placing the bone graft in the front of the spine places it in compression, and bone in compression tends to fuse better.
Lastly, a much larger implant can be inserted through an anterior approach, and this provides for better initial stability of the fusion construct.